Delaware City Council voted Monday to approve a resolution for the filing of an application to receive grant money to be directed towards road repairs within the city.
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), which is applied for by the city every two years, would see $166,000 allocated to the city by the Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA).
During Monday’s virtual council meeting, City Manager Tom Homan said the grant money has been applied to low-to-moderate neighborhoods in the past, particularly for road improvements. The grant money would be used for projects beginning in the summer of 2021.
The resolution states, “The CDBG Community Development Allocation Program provides communities with a flexible housing and community development resource that can be used to address locally identified needs that are eligible CDBG activities and qualify under the national objective of low-and-moderate income benefit or the elimination of slum and blight conditions.”
Of the $166,000, $140,000 would be directed towards street improvements and $26,000 towards fair housing and administration. Any project cost exceeding the grant funding amount will be funded by the local CDBG Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund program income first, followed by the city’s public improvement funds.
According to city documents on the grant application, eligible communities for the CDBG Community Development Funds are required to use the 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) poverty levels to determine where the funds are needed. The streets identified by the Engineering and Public Works departments for improvement using the 2020 CDBG funds are Wade, Rheem and Flax streets. All three streets are located on the city’s east side.
The documents state, however, that street locations may be modified after the application is submitted should other priorities be identified.
